Hey guess what? I'm giving a keynote presentation at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco this Thursday, 3/31 at 10:15am PST about how the earthquake could jump start innovation in Japan. You can watch the live stream of my talk here. Oh, and right here even! (Updated with recording) This is what ...

A 24-year old pet store manager in Nagasaki named Akira Honda was arrested for stealing a penguin from a zoo to pay off his debts. The bird he snatched was a Humboldt Penguin; they're South American birds that grow to about 27 inches tall and 130lbs heavy. They're not on the endangered species...

A series of new manga-ified public service posters by Tokyo Metro shows people getting drunk, putting on makeup, and doing other embarrassing things on the train. The message, written boldly at the top in Japanese and English: "Please do it at home." via Boing Boing

My friend Ben and I made a test run of TokyoMango t-shirts on Saturday. They're really nice, do you want one? If so, you can buy one here. Below are the details: - All shirts are 100% cotton. - Each t-shirt will be hand-silk screened by me and Ben on his Yudu machine. The shirt logo was custo...

If you've ever wondered what it's like to be a yakuza boss' daughter, Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter is a must-read. The author, Shoko Tendo, tells her story with brutal honesty. We all know how big a role family plays in shaping one's life, and it's amazingly interesting to see ...

I was interviewed for the Wall Street Journal's Front and Forward section, which is in today's paper, about 3 tech trends from Japan: virtual boyfriends, augmented reality tourism, wearable remote controls, etc. I don't get the print version of the WSJ, but you can find it here. TokyoMango on ...

Taste aside, some of the best things about Japanese canned coffee are the names: BM, BJ, Black Boss and Deepresso to name just a few.
http://inventorspot.com/articles/ten_bizarre_japanese_soft_drinks_5225

On BBG today, I wrote about coffee in a can which, as far as I can tell, is largely a Japanese phenomenon disguised as a manly American one. When I was a teenager in Tokyo, I used to drink coffee all the time — from a can, from a vending machine, often at the train station on my way home from ...

On BBG today, I wrote about coffee in a can which, as far as I can tell, is largely a Japanese phenomenon disguised as a manly American one. When I was a teenager in Tokyo, I used to drink coffee all the time — from a can, from a vending machine, often at the train station on my way home from ...

This could be the greatest Japanese invention yet. It's a knee pillow for guys who like to pee standing up—now they can do it kneeling down so that their pee doesn't splash all over the place. What a great invention! Product page (via Gizmodo)

Here's a very nicely edited video of my 5-minute slideshow presentation at Ignite SF at the Mezzanine (a night club) on April 1st. There was a technical glitch, and you can see me give the slidemaster a dirty look when it starts getting screwy. It was fun though—I am grateful to have had the ...

I hesitated about putting this up on TokyoMango-a LOT-because it's kinda embarrassing to see myself on TV, but here it is: a clip from my appearance on ABC's View from the Bay in July 2008. I'm actually also on their new digital network show, Home with Lisa Quinn on Live Well HD, but I haven'...